Garden Sheds

Choose Your Garden Shed

Wooden, Metal or Plastic: Which Shed is Right for You?

The material you choose affects how your shed looks, how long it lasts, and how much maintenance it needs. Here's a quick guide:

• Wooden sheds — the classic choice and our speciality as a UK manufacturer.
  • Natural appearance that blends into most gardens
  • Easy to customise — paint or stain any colour after assembly
  • Strong and solid; suitable for workshops and hobby spaces
  • Requires periodic treatment to maintain weatherproofing
• Metal sheds — a practical, security-focused alternative.
  • Very low maintenance — no treating or painting required
  • Resistant to rot, warping, and pests
  • Typically quicker to assemble than timber
  • Can be prone to condensation; less easy to customise
• Plastic sheds — the ultimate low-maintenance option.
  • Completely weatherproof and rust-proof
  • Never needs treating, painting, or staining
  • Lightweight and easy to relocate
  • Less suited to heavy-duty workshop use

If high-end resilience, weather resistance and weight-bearing is what you're looking for, our specialist range of heavy duty sheds is where you need to look.

For a more detailed breakdown, our shed buying guide covers material choice alongside size, base preparation, and planning rules. Or if value is the priority, our budget shed range spans all three materials.

Choosing the Right Shed Size

Shed sizes are quoted width × depth — bear in mind the stated size refers to the external frame, not the internal floor space. As a general guide:

• 6×4 and small sheds: The right choice for a smaller garden or a tighter budget. Stores a lawnmower, garden tools, and seasonal kit without taking over the garden. See our small garden sheds.
• 6×6 and 7×5: Popular for basic storage. Fits a lawnmower, bikes, tools, and seasonal furniture — with enough space left for a workbench along one wall.
• 8×6: The go-to for dual-purpose use. Space for a dedicated workbench alongside storage, a hobby space, or a bike rack with room to spare. See our full 8×6 shed range.
• 10×8 and larger: Workshop-grade space for woodworking, a year-round hobby room, or locking away e-bikes and expensive equipment securely. If you plan to spend real time in it, also consider our garden workshops.

Not sure which size is right for your garden? Our guide to shed sizes provides a detailed breakdown of matching size to purpose and how big you can legally go.

Shed Advice and Buying Guides

Everything you need to buy, install, and maintain your shed is in our Shed Advice Hub. Popular topics include:

• Complete shed buying guide — size, material, specification, and what to avoid
• How sheds are delivered — complete details on what to expect, depending on the size and type of shed you've purchased
• Shed bases and foundations — what base you need and how to prepare the ground
• Shed maintenance tips — how to treat, repaint, and extend the life of a wooden shed
• Planning permission for sheds — what the permitted development rules mean in practice

The Garden Buildings Direct Quality Standard

Because we manufacture our own wooden sheds in the UK, we control every stage of the build — from the timber we select to the fittings on the door. Here's what that means in practice:

• 11mm Tongue & Groove Cladding: Thicker than the 7mm overlap boards used on our budget range, tongue and groove cladding interlocks for a tight, weatherproof fit with no gaps for wind or rain to exploit. Our Heavy Duty range steps this up further with 15mm T&G on walls, roof, and floor.
• Spruce timber: Sourced from suppliers that operate renewable forests, spruce is among the best materials for outdoor wooden structures.
• Shatterproof styrene glazing: Lighter than glass and won't shatter if struck — a practical choice for garden buildings where safety around children and pets matters.
• Ready to personalise: Our wooden sheds are supplied untreated, so you can paint or stain them any colour you choose straight after assembly — no waiting for a factory treatment to wear off before your own coat will take. If you'd prefer a shed that arrives ready to weather, our pressure treated range offers long-term protection built in from the start.

All our wooden sheds are covered by a 10-year manufacturer's guarantee against rot, decay and insect infestation, as standard. This extends to 15 years if you upgrade to pressure treatment.

Shed Finance

You can buy your shed on finance, thanks to our partnership with Novuna. You’ll find all the information below the ‘Add to basket’ section on the product page. As long as your purchase is at least £560 and with a minimum deposit of 10%, finance is available for up to 48 months, so you can pay monthly rather than all at once. For the full terms and conditions, please read our finance page.

If you would rather talk it through, speak to our UK team on 01909 768840.